


The Cave

by MightyXRay



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Force Ghost(s), Force Visions (Star Wars), Gen, Han Solo Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Redeemed Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29989740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyXRay/pseuds/MightyXRay
Summary: Ben Solo listened to his father. He came home, & then went to his uncle Luke seeking forgiveness. Now he must face what he did & who he became if he has any hope of becoming who he was.
Relationships: Ben Solo & Darth Vader, Kylo Ren & Ben Solo, Luke Skywalker & Ben Solo
Kudos: 5





	The Cave

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a scene from an idea I had where Ben stops being Kylo Ren. Not sure when I'll have the energy/motivation to write the whole thing, but I figured I'd write out this little bit!

Ben stepped through the mouth of the cave. He remembered his uncle talk about the cave he went into during his training on Dagobah, how Yoda had warned against bringing weapons. Luke gave the same warning, & Ben listened. Not that his saber would have been any use had he brought it, the already cracked crystal having disintegrated when he attempted to purify it. His outburst at that is what inspired Luke to send him through the cave in the first place.

"You made the right choice at Starkiller Base," he'd said, "But there's still conflict in your heart." The cave was his answer. Externalizing the inner conflicts. Ben hoped he was right. He hated feeling this way, hated what he'd done. He was also afraid of what confronting all that would mean. Afraid of what he'd see, be reminded of. In that fear he hesitated, stopped. Ben looked around. The light from the mouth of the cave was gone. How long had he been walking? His breathing quickened, grew heavier. He fell to his knees. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. This was what he'd felt when that scrapper girl had turned his mental probe onto him, the feeling of someone else knowing his deepest insecurities.

_"You will never be as strong as-"_

The sound of his own breathing & his own heartbeat was replaced by something else. Another person's breath. Strained. Assisted by cybernetics. Ben looked up. The complete darkness of the cave had been replaced by a dimly lit corridor of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Standing just in the light was a tall figure, adorned in black durasteel armor. Ben slowly rose to his feet, eyes wide in disbelief. _He's not real_ , Ben told himself, _he's not real_. But when the illusory Sith Lord ignited his crimson saber, Ben took a step back. He considered turning & running, leaving the cave & abandoning this foolish errand. But then he remembered something his father had told him, years ago.

_"Courage isn't not being scared, kid. It's being scared, but doing the fragging job anyway."_

_"Were you scared when you saved Momma from the Death Star?"_

_Han chuckled. "Nah, your old man was too laserbrained to be scared then. But I should have been!"_

Ben turned towards the image of Darth Vader, a determined look in his eyes. He felt a weight in his hand & looked down: he held his lightsaber. His old one, when he was his uncle's student. Igniting it, a familiar blue blade sprang forth. He took the saber in both hands & took up a fighting stance & advanced towards his opponent.

Vader's booming voice echoed in Ben's mind. "Weak!" Their sabers clashed, the force behind Vader's enhanced cybernetics rattled up Ben's arms. "'Finish what I started'?" Ben ducked under Vader's saber. "You abandoned your training as a Jedi." Ben's counterattacks were easily rebuffed. "You abandoned the Dark Side!" Ben had never felt so outclassed, Vader was toying with him. "You're nothing but a poor reflection of your grandfather!" Ben threw all his strength behind his next attack, their sabers locking.

But in the blink of an eye, he was no longer fighting Darth Vader.

It was _Luke_. He wasn't on a Star Destroyer anymore. He recognized the Temple, from before he...

Luke wore an expression of profound sadness. _Disappointment_ , Ben corrected himself. The disappointment his uncle felt deep down. Ben stepped back, stunned & unable to speak.

"Nephew..." the false Jedi Master spoke, " _I_ resisted the Dark. My _father_ overcame it. Why couldn't _you_?" There was a tense, unbearable silence as Ben searched for the words. "WHY?"

"It was Snoke!" Ben yelled back, "It was all Snoke's fault!"

"Stop lying, Ben." A terrifyingly familiar voice from behind him. He turned his back to his uncle, & found himself facing... _himself_. Kylo Ren. Black robes. The helmet designed to imitate Darth Vader. The Temple complex was destroyed around him. "I've been a part of you from the beginning." Ben raised his saber. Kylo Ren activated his own, the red crossguard blade as solid as Vader's. The Dark Side warrior stood as though he were the greatest duelist in the Galaxy, holding his weapon in one hand & forgoing a proper stance. "Ever since you first went to Luke for training."

"No!" Ben launched himself forward, & the dual began. A whirl of blue & red. Deliberate measured strikes met with wild ferocity. Ben began to feel like himself again, back in the Jedi mindset as taught by his Uncle. Level breathing, following through on his strikes, staying mindful of his footing. & then Kylo Ren spoke again.

"You were excited to be taught by your own uncle, the great Luke Skywalker." In his filtered voice, the name dripped with derision. Ben remembered when he was first told he was going away for training.

_"I'm really gonna get to learn from Uncle Luke?!"_

_"Mhmm," his father didn't seem thrilled, but put a smile on his face after a gentle slap on the arm from Momma._

_"That's right! He'll teach you everything there is to know about the Force, & you'll have so many friends, &-"_

_"I bet I'm gonna be the greatest student there!"_

"You wanted to be _special_." Ben took a wrong step, & just barely dove out of the way of Kylo Ren's next attack. He got back up & went right back into the fight, getting more aggressive with his attacks. "But you weren't special, were you, Ben?" Ben tried to block out what he was saying, but he couldn't. He knew it was true, remembered the resentment. "You were nothing to him! He regretted the day your parents dumped you at his door-" Ben lashed out in anger with the Force, pushing this phantom of his past against the remains of a burning tree. Advancing on his downed opponent, he took the chance to strike. Abandoning all training & relying solely on his own power, he brought his lightsaber down. Kylo Ren feebly blocked at the very last second. Ben struck again & agian, the sabers colliding in a massive _CRASH_.

"I!"

_CRASH_

"AM!"

_CRASH_

"NOT!"

_CRASH_

"YOU!"

_CRASH_

Ben struck Kylo Ren's mask. It fell away, revealing his own face, but paler. Red-orange eyes, a deep prominent scar over one eye. Ben hammered at his opponent's defense again, sending the Master of the Knights of Ren's saber flying. But in the instant he raised his saber for the final blow...

He wasn't facing Kylo Ren anymore. Before him on the ground, was Ben Solo, the scared boy who had felt so betrayed by his family. Ben looked at the weapon in his hands, & saw a red blade. He dropped it as though it would burn him. Ben collapsed, tears pooling in his eyes. Everything faded away. The vision of himself from the past, the ruined Temple, the saber, leaving him alone with only his thoughts & memories.

He wasn't sure how long he had been lying there when Luke approached him, hugging him & telling him that it'd be okay. That there was Light at the end of the tunnel....

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, just a thought I had while kicking ideas around a few months ago. Also, first fic!  
> I will say that I probably disregarded a bit of Canon but eh, what are you gonna do?  
> I will also say that I'm not big on Ben's redemption in Ep 9, just bc his statement of "I'm gonna burn it all down" seemed pretty Final to me. But I just figured this was something neat to write up so that I could say that I *did* write something. Hope you enjoyed!


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